


Holy Danganronpa: Demons Within

by orphan_account



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Holy Dangan Ronpa: Demons Within
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Attempted Murder, Character Death, Death, Fan Characters, Fan Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), Fluff and Angst, Minor Character Death, Murder, Murder Mystery, Original Character Death(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:21:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23772226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: It started out simple enough. An invitation to a party for Ultimates. Of course anyone recognized as an Ultimate would go if they were invited. When Ayuki got the invitation, she expected it to be a nice place in a nice neighborhood like a housewarming party, not a large seemingly rundown manor surrounded by a gate that looks like it's been haunted since 19-aught-7.





	1. PROLOGUE

It started out simple enough. An invitation to a party for Ultimates. Of course anyone recognized as an Ultimate would go if they were invited. When Ayuki got the invitation, she expected it to be a nice place in a nice neighborhood like a housewarming party, not a large seemingly rundown manor surrounded by a gate that looks like it's been haunted since 19-aught-7. Where you once could probably see delicate and intricate designs within the walls of the manor, vines have overgrown and taken over. Where the gate was once shiny, rust has made the metal its new home. When she entered and the gates locked behind her is when she realized she was in trouble.

"Hey!" She screamed, pulling on the bars. They wouldn't budge, no matter what she did. They were sturdy despite the years worth of rust covering them. She didn't care if her hands got dirty touching them. How they closed without anyone to lock them, she didn't know. She could only assume that they lock automatically and need a key to open. Just before she tried punching them, a futile attempt in itself and she nearly laughed at herself for even thinking of doing so, an accented voice came from behind her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were ya." Ayuki jumped around and was met face to face with a girl who looked around the same age as her, as much as Ayuki could see with the light coming from inside the manor that shone behind the girl. "You'll give yerself some nasty bruises, partner! Ain't no one wanna get hurt over doing something so stupid like a bull ready to charge! Come on inside, get yerself associated with the others while I get ya something to drink! Is water alright?"

The girl tried dragging Ayuki into the manor but her hand was just slapped away. She didn't even know her name, how dare she try bossing her around?

"Who are you? State your name, stranger!" The girl laughed hardily, from her gut. Ayuki wondered how someone could laugh like that.

"Calm yerself, partner! Ya really are like a bull ain't ya? The name's **Akito Haiko, Ultimate Jockey**. I reckon yer an Ultimate too? Ya wouldn't be here if ya weren't, y'know." Akito tilted her head, hinting for Ayuki to introduce herself in return.

She cleared her throat, suddenly feeling ashamed for having not done so earlier. It's only polite to introduce yourself now, she guessed, since Akito went through the trouble of doing so herself. "Right, how rude of me. I'm **Ayuki Hanabuchi, Ultimate Medium** -"

"Cool cool cool, now come on partner! Let's go get ya some water!" Akito cut her off and grabbed her arm once more, this time Ayuki allowing her to drag her along.

The doors squeaked open, the sound grating on Ayuki's ears. The light was blinding within the large manor, Ayuki had to squint until her eyes adjusted to the brightness. There was a small group of three people gathered together in the main hall, two of which she could tell their professions from miles away. Ayuki hadn't noticed Akito was gone until one of the strangers glanced at her and ran over, a large friendly smile on her face.

"You must be Ayuki!" That outburst made Ayuki worried, and she questioned the girl how she knew her name. "Oh silly, you're the last one to arrive! The hostess said your name on the invitation!" That explains it. "My name is **Misato Aiyama**! I'm the **Ultimate Nun** , God chose me himself and it would be sacrilegious for me to decline God."

Ayuki felt strange vibes from this nun, but she didn't question it outright. Devotion has always made her feel weird.

"You must meet the others! Not everyone is gathered together, as some went off to explore before the host decides to make their announcement, however it does not hurt to get to know each other!" _Someone choke me_ , Ayuki thought to herself before letting herself get dragged towards the small group of three Misato was originally a part of.

Misato pointed to a tall man with slicked back hair. A priest. "That is Father Yu-" She was rudely cut off.

"I can introduce myself, thank you Aiyama." The man spat before clearing his throat, Misato shrinking back and muttering an apology. "My name is **Yuhei Kazaoka**. I'm the **Ultimate Priest** , as you could tell from my ensemble." Ayuki introduced herself, which was promptly ignored by the priest. It wasn't, however, ignored by the short girl next to him.

"I'm **Sae Morikubo**! I'm a member of Father Yuhei and Sister Misato's choir!" She's the **Ultimate Choir Member** then, Ayuki assumed, taking a mental note of how these three knew each other prior to this gathering. She suddenly felt out of place with these holy figures, being considered a sinner with what she associates with. Just as she was about to ask if anyone else was around, a bell chimed from afar.

The bell rang throughout the manor, echoing through the halls, almost deafening. Then there was a _ding_!

A high pitched voice was clearing its throat.

"Hello? Hello hello? Is this on? Oh- Ahem! Good evening my lovely guests! I am your hostess! You will meet me in due time, once you've all gathered in the courtyard. Wait for me by the fountain!"

"We should get going! Ayuki let's go!" Sae grabbed her arm, but Ayuki kept her feet planted.

"Where's Akito? She said she'd get me a drink…" Ayuki didn't think about how Sae might not have met Akito yet.

"Don't worry, she'll probably bring it to the fountain! Let's go!!" Sae yanked and made Ayuki stumble before she sighed and finally gave in, following Sae and the other holy figures.

Ayuki glanced at the paintings on the walls as the four walked down twisting and winding halls. They gave her the chills. It felt like they were following their every move. The Mona Lisa felt more sinister than she did beautiful. Various paintings of random men from older years littered the walls, their eyes glossy. She didn't trust them. She hated them.

She was so busy seething with disgust at the paintings she could only abhor that she didn't notice that they had reached two large doors, Yuhei kindly opening them and revealing a gorgeous garden. Flowers of all kinds grew around neatly trimmed and shaped bushes. A cute cobblestone pathway beneath their feet, the group of four followed it as it twisted and turned, getting lost on multiple occasions within the garden with how high the bushes grew until they finally reached the fountain.

There was a much larger group of people, only one of which Ayuki bothered to recognize. Akito ran up to Ayuki, holding a glass of water in her hands. Out of breath, Akito could only pant and gesture to the glass for Ayuki to take, which she did. It would be rude to refuse now.

Ayuki took a sip and immediately her thirst was quenched. The water tasted so clean, so crisp. It was amazing, for just being some water. Possibly even tap water.

Drinking from her glass, Ayuki analyzed the group. Big and small, lean and meaty, people of all sizes gathered by the fountain. Some wore gaudish colors while others were more modest. They were all engaged in conversations of their own. The fountain, however, was what truly caught her attention. There was a mermaid as the centerpiece, holding a jug and pouring out the water for the fountain. It really was gorgeous.

"Kero kero kero kero!!"

The high pitched laughter took her out of her daze, glancing around to find where it came from the same as everyone else. Words flew from everyones' mouths as they shouted their own confusions into the air.

"Where the fuck is that coming from?!" A tall man yelled out at nothing, his scarf waving in the wind.

"Over here~!" The crowd focused on the fountain once more before a green and pink frog wearing the outfit of a ghost hopped out from behind it.

"Is that a fucking stuffed animal?" The same potty mouthed man squinted down his nose at the frog, who laughed in response.

"Kero kero kero! Maybe I am! It's not like you'll ever know! Now, my name is Yureikaeru! I'm your lovely hostess this evening!"

Sae looked as if she was in love with how small and cute Yureikaeru looked. Ayuki felt unnerved once more. She had a bad feeling about this frog.

"I don't wanna fucking be here, how can I leave when the gates are locked?" The tall man sneered at the frog, who tilted her head.

"Oh you can't leave! Not at all! You chose to come here after all. Why would you want to leave anyways? The party hasn't even started yet!" Ayuki's eyes widened at the frog's whining.

"Wait, what did you say? About… us not being able to leave?" She took a step forward, flinching when Yureikaeru laughed.

"It's a game! In order to leave you have to win the game!" The laugh that started out as annoying now pierced through Ayuki.

"And how the hell do you win?" The tall man looked like he was about to throw Yureikaeru.

"Well, **Jun Tomizuka** , and I'm talking to everyone as well." All eyes were on the frog. "In order to win you must kill." Everyone stopped breathing. "Kill, kill, kill! You must kill until you cannot breathe anymore! Stain the garden in red!" Laughter. Not only from Yureikaeru, but from Jun and a few other patrons as well.

"You must be joking. A little stuffed frog toy is telling us to murder complete strangers in order to leave. Come on, there must be a key somewhere." Another man grinned, Yureikaeru was losing patience.

" **Tadao Kawa** you best be quiet before you become an example for the rest." With the frog's eyes glowing red, the man named Tadao frowned and shut up. Not out of intimidation, Ayuki assumed, but out of boredom. The frog was too easy to file up.

"Until one of you has killed someone, you'll be trapped here for the rest of your lives! Now, you all must be very tired, it _is_ 10 PM after all! It's your curfew! I'll show the way to your rooms. I'll gather you all here once again in the morning to explain the rules to my game." The frog hopped off of the fountain and waved her hand, gesturing the group to follow. Seeing as they had no choice, they did. They followed Yureikaeru through the halls, up and down stairs, until she stopped in front of a large collection of doors with a relaxation area in the middle of the hallway.

"This is where you'll be staying! Your rooms have your names and photos on the doors so that you don't get confused as to which room is whose! Now a quick little teensy rule about curfew. The kitchen and the entry to the garden are locked, no one is to leave this specific building after 10 PM. Midnight snacks are forbidden unfortunately. You can _not_ sleep anywhere outside of the rooms. You have beds for a reason. You can go for walks around the building but be sure to watch your back~! Don't wanna get murdered now do we?"

Someone raised their hand as if to ask a question when Yureikaeru giggled. "Don't worry, your rooms have bathrooms built in. There _are_ bathrooms around the manor but you have your own for added privacy. Any other questions?" Everyone stayed silent. Out of fear, tiredness, boredom, Ayuki could tell there were a multitude of reasons for the silence.

"Yeesh tough crowd. Well then, since no one has anything to say, get in those rooms you all! Go to bed!"

As everyone was forced into their rooms by the frog, Yureikaeru's voice rang through the manor, fear placing itself deep within Ayuki.

"Sweet dreams, my wonderful patrons. You have a day of excitement ahead of you~!"


	2. CHAPTER ONE - DAILY LIFE

_ Ding dong… ding dong… _

"Wakey wakey! Rise and shine! It's currently 7:30 AM, it's time for breakfast! Please make your way to the dining room. I won't be joining you for your first meal here unfortunately, however you should take this time to get to know each other! You might as well before the killing begins."

Yureikaeru's voice rang through the intercom, startling Ayuki awake. She doesn't even remember when she fell asleep but she did apparently. Sitting up in her bed, she stretched and yawned. She didn't even change into her pajamas. Did she even have pajamas? She didn't know. Ayuki got up from her bed and stretched down to touch her toes. She needed to stay limber if she was ever running from someone trying to kill her, she jested to herself. She went to the bathroom to do her usual morning routine before she exited her room. 

"Ayuki you're awake!" Sae jogged over to her, a bright smile on her face. 

"Were you waiting for me?" Ayuki raised an eyebrow, causing Sae to shrink back, giggling nervously.

"Not really… I just wanted to know if you'd want to walk with me? This place creeps me out…" She looked up at Ayuki, and she realized just how short Sae was compared to her. Ayuki sighed, her and Akito were the only ones she really knew. Of course, she knew Yuhei and Misato but…

"Fine, let's go. I didn't want to go through this place by myself either to be completely honest." Sae lit up and happily held onto Ayuki's arm, jumping up and down and thanking her profusely. 

"I hope there's pancakes…" Sae mumbles as the two began walking down the hall. Sae sped down the stairs, almost tripping Ayuki in the process, but as irritated as she was she couldn't find it in her to get mad at Sae.

Walking to the kitchen they ran into a girl Ayuki recognized. She apparently got lost on the way to the dining room so Ayuki invited her along.

Once they reached the dining room and sat down in some open seats, a  _ ding _ echoed through the room.

"Ahem. Now that you've all gathered, it's time for breakfast! Oh waitresses~!" Yureikaeru sung and on cue, multiple Yureikaerus crowded the dining room, placing a multitude of breakfast foods on the table. You name it, it's there. Ayuki could see how excited Sae was when she set her eyes on the pancakes.

Ayuki decided to take this time to analyze the people she's trapped with as they were all engaged in side conversations. She started with the people on her left.

The first person she noticed was a redheaded girl with a serious face. Ayuki recognized her as  **Minami Atsushi** , the  **Ultimate Acupuncturist** . She's world renown for being able to cure any ailment using acupuncture and acupressure. She got her title when she accidentally cured a brain tumor using her skills back in middle school. She's the best of the best.

Next up is  **Akito Haiko** , the  **Ultimate Jockey** . She was the first one Ayuki met. A brunette with a bunch of freckles, she's the image of the perfect ranch gal. Akito's the best jockey out there for one so young. She won every tournament in her first year of highschool and has yet to lose a match. Her horse is named Speed King for a reason, Ayuki guessed. She gets gold medal after gold medal. She's the role model for every up and coming jockey out there.

Then there's  **Shimpei Nanao** , the  **Ultimate Babysitter** . Ayuki wasn't even aware there was such a title or that such a title was possible until she saw him mentioned on an Ultimates forum. Apparently he can "tame" any rambunctious child and he's always the first choice for any mother when it comes to watching their children. His hair is kept short so that it's harder for kids to pull on when they're throwing temper tantrums.

**Jun Tomizuka** 's another one whose title Ayuki didn't think was possible, or even allowed. As the  **Ultimate Blackmailer** , he's able to find out any of anyone's secrets and use them against you efficiently in order to do his bidding. If anyone was going to kill first, it would be him. She's pretty sure his talent is illegal but who knows what goes on in the minds of the people determining these titles. His hair is long and there's constantly a beanie on his head, a scowl on his face twenty-four seven.

**Teruko Mitsumori** is someone you'd know if you were either a hunter or if you were into keeping creepy things. Ayuki was a fan of taxidermy so of course she'd know of the  **Ultimate Taxidermist** herself. Rumor has it that she even taxidermies bodies but there's no proof of her doing so. No one knows if it's true or not. Ayuki finds the mystery of it intriguing. If she didn't know any better, Ayuki would've thought she was an art student because of how she presents herself.

Ayuki has already met  **Sae Morikubo** , the  **Ultimate Choir Member** . For someone apart of a holy group, she doesn't seem all that holy herself. She acted like a child and was nowhere near modest from what she's seen so far of her. Her hair was silver in color for someone in highschool. Her white skirt had multiple stains from what she could only assume is dirt from how she seems like the type to play in mud while wearing stark white clothing.

Everyone knows  **Yuya Inagaki** , even if it's just through his dating app. The  **Ultimate Cupid** made a dating app called Love Arrow where he matches people up himself just by looking at their bios. He bans the people he can tell are trying to scam others and only keeps the people looking for true love or friendship. All of the matchups he's made have stayed together and some even got married. His app has gotten five stars on every app store it's in. His strawberry blond hair and pink eyes further sell his title of Cupid.

To the right of Ayuki, there was  **Masanobu Ote** , the  **Ultimate Exorcist** . He was someone she knew all too well. She had to call him multiple times during her sessions to expel demons and ghouls from her clients once she was able to sense them within said clients. He looked like a granny with the beads connecting to his glasses. With such a title you'd think he takes his job and self seriously, however there he was with an orange smile making Sae laugh.

Next to Masanobu was  **Yuka Kawate** , who was laughing as well. Her skills as the  **Ultimate Hypnotist** are unrivaled. She's able to send anyone into a forced slumber within seconds, no matter how strong they believe their conscience is. She's able to break her way through and have anyone under her command. She could rule the world with an iron fist if she wanted to, but instead she helps therapists figure out what's wrong with their silent patients by commanding them to tell what their problems are. Her turtleneck looked too warm for sleeping in.

**Misato Aiyama** the  **Ultimate Nun** was the second person Ayuki met the night she arrived. Well, last night. Her devotion to the Lord knew no bounds, some would say she's the Ultimate Religious Believer in general with how devoted she was. She's celibate to a T and refuses anything she believes God would consider sinful. Ayuki doubted that she slept in her nun wear but she couldn't be too sure.

A piece of bacon flew past Ayuki's face, a loud exclamation of "sorry" followed close behind. She looked over to where the ruckus was coming from and saw Yuhei standing up and yelling at Chiori.  **Yuhei Kazaoka** is the  **Ultimate Priest** and  **Chiori Terabe** is the  **Ultimate Voodooist** . It's only natural that the two wouldn't get along. Chiori stuck her tongue out at Yuhei, who in turn threatened to stab it with his fork.  **Fubuki Nojima** , the  **Ultimate Historian** , was trying to calm the two down, scolding them both for acting childishly during a meal. Yuhei, turning red, glanced around the table and sat back down and continued to eat. Chiori laughed at him, "serves you right!" She taunted him, only stopping when she got a glare from Fubuki.

Last but not least was someone Ayuki didn't recognize too well but knew the name of. His name is  **Daigaku Otabe** . There's rumors about him all over Ultimates forums. Some say he's the  **Ultimate Witch** , others say he's the  **Ultimate Puppeteer** . No one knows his talent, only that he's considered an Ultimate for whatever it may be. The forums have dubbed him the  **Ultimate Mystery** . There's something about Daigaku that Ayuki can't put her finger on. Maybe it's the way his clothing looks raggedy or the way his hair is messy enough to hide something small in. Whatever it is, Ayuki doesn't like the feel of it.

There's also Ayuki herself.  **Ayuki Hanabuchi** , the  **Ultimate Medium** . She summons and speaks to ghosts and ghouls for a living. As silly as it sounds, she's the best at it. She's stopped more hauntings than any ghost busting reality show out there. All of her clients are thankful for her services and would pay anything just to have her do it again. Which she always declines and says that they would rather not be haunted again. She's well acquainted with churchgoers who believe that anything that even remotely resembles paranormal activity is work of the Devil himself. However, she's the only person who can inform them as well as she can that it can very well be the opposite in most cases, and she's the only person they'll believe.

She felt strange knowing how many people with religion based talents were gathered here, however she didn't let it bother her too much.

After breakfast, the Yureikaeru waitresses gathered up the finished plates and cleaned the table while everyone stood. On the intercom, the real Yureikaeru's voice came through.

"I hope breakfast was to your liking? Our chefs prepared it just for you all with ounces upon ounces of love and care put into it~!" Yuhei scoffed. "You may explore around this building and within the garden. The doors to the other buildings within the manor are locked. The gates are electrified so you'll get cooked upon contact! No climbing them to escape now, you hear? Kero kero kero!" The intercom turned off, the waitress Yureikaerus retreated back to a room behind the kitchen, everyone was left alone.

"Okay how the hell are we gonna get out of here?" Jun started, looking at everyone. "I for one don't wanna be stuck in this musty place with a bunch of complete fucking strangers."

"I agree. I would rather not sully my ensemble with eighty year old dust." Yuhei spoke like he wasn't just about to participate in a food fight only a few minutes ago.

"Maybe there's a key to the gates somewhere in this damn place." Shimpei spoke with a surprisingly rude demeanor. It made Ayuki wonder just exactly  _ how  _ he tames problem children.

"Nope! Completely wrong!" Yureikaeru hopped up onto the table, seemingly from nowhere. "I already told you that you need to  _ kill _ to get out! Oh right! The rules! Alright listen up, here's how you play my little game! The title you gain when you kill someone is  **the Blackened** . When you're the Blackened, you can _ not _ tell anyone unless you have an accomplice, which I'll get to later. When three people find the body, an investigation will begin to find out how and why the victim died, and perhaps even who before the trial even begins. When the investigation is over, I'll be holding a trial as I've previously mentioned."

The more the frog spoke the more Yuhei seemed to realize that this isn't a joke, as his eyes slowly widened and Ayuki could see a cold, reality giving bead of sweat run down his cheek.

"During the trial you'll be presenting any evidence you've found to prove one of you guilty of murder. If you guess the Blackened correctly, the Blackened receives a punishment for being found out. If the Blackened gets through the trial without being suspected, everyone else dies and the Blackened gets to escape on their own!"

"Wait, what about accomplices? You mentioned those." Shimpei asked, getting a smug glare in return from Yureikaeru.

"Why, are you getting ideas already? Good for you, good for you~! Accomplices are simple. Only the one who lands the final killing blow is considered the Blackened. There can only be one Blackened per trial. So accomplices aren't really the smartest idea if you want to survive. However~! There can be multiple victims." With that, abruptly, Yureikaeru disappeared within the blink of an eye, leaving everyone dazed, confused, and worried. Jun, however, was furious.

"Is this a fucking joke? You really expect us to believe this shit? Locking us up with complete strangers in a fucking abandoned building, having the balls to feed us and act like we're houseguests, and then expect us to fucking murder each other? Where the fuck are you, you slimey bastard? I'll tear your stuffing out!" He was seething with rage. Ayuki didn't feel safe standing in the same room as him. "Fuck this, I'm going to my room. Don't fucking bother me, stay the fuck away from me." As he stormed out of the dining room, Fubuki bursted out into laughter.

"Just like a child that one. Hey, Babysitter, why don't you do your job and handle that one?"

"Hey fuck you, I want nothing to deal with that brat."

Ayuki couldn't deal with this. She left the dining room and went straight to her bedroom as the argument went on. Was she really stuck in here with these people? She could feel a headache coming on.

Days passed without a killing, and Ayuki was starting to get antsy. It could happen at any moment. She lost count of how many days she's been here and it's starting to get to her already. During lunch, however, her fears have been answered with a worst case scenario.

"Urrghhhh!!! None of you are participating in my game!!! You're all  _ such _ fun at parties! Because you're all such sourpusses, I've come up with an idea to really make you feel murderous! If you look under your plates," everyone lifted their plates, finding a small blank card, "you'll find a card! Now, pick them up in a way that no one will be able to see what's on the side facing downwards." Everyone did as told, some even going as far as covering their card with their hand. "On those cards are secrets belonging to one of you. Who has whose secret? No one knows! Not even you~! If no one is killed by tomorrow, all of those secrets will be released to every single one of you, and I know that at least  _ one _ of you has a secret you want to remain unknown~!"

Everyone was tense the rest of the day, no one left their rooms. At least Ayuki believed no one did. Dinner was silent and so was everything after it. That night Ayuki took the extra step to lock her door, just as an extra precaution. 

She lied in her bed looking up at the ceiling. She felt like she wouldn't be able to sleep. Soon enough, however, she faintly heard the curfew announcement as she slowly fell into a deep slumber.


	3. CHAPTER ONE: DEADLY LIFE

_ Ding dong… ding dong… _

"Good morning you all~! It is currently 7:30 AM!"

Ayuki groggily sat up in her bed. She hates waking up this early in the morning.

"Before you all come to breakfast, I have an announcement to make!" Yureikaeru's face showed on the intercom; she seemed to be grinning, overcome with glee.

"It seems like  _ someone _ is holding another secret! I have a riddle for you all as well!"

A riddle? Why is she acting so strange this morning?

"When the parents are asleep, bad children are awake. They run and run around in circles. Where do bad children go the first chance they get?"

What kind of riddle is that? What's the point to it? Ayuki didn't know and didn't care. Her brain was not working yet at this hour.

"Feel free to dwell on that for a while! That's all! Enjoy your breakfast now~!" The intercom shut up, Yureikaeru's croaking laugh cutting off. Ayuki got up from bed and exited her room after doing her morning routine. Sae was there as usual. They had gotten into the routine of going to the dining room together to give each other some sort of comfort through the halls.

At breakfast, one seat was open. In fact, the chair was gone completely. Everyone was accounted for. Ayuki would notice if someone was missing.

"Hey, excuse me?" She tugged on the skirt of one of the waitress Yureikaerus. "Where did that chair go? There were sixteen seats here yesterday and the day before."

"That's a secret you all have to figure out yourself~! Perhaps solving the riddle will help you." She winked and headed back to a room behind the kitchen. There was nothing out of order, but something felt off. She just couldn't put her finger on it.

Breakfast went by rather quickly. There was less food than usual for some reason. Sae got up from her seat after everyone else did and walked over to Ayuki, tugging on her shirt.

"Hey… Ayuki? I think I solved the riddle." Ayuki raised an eyebrow at her, confused.

"Did you really take the frog seriously? Whatever, what do you think the answer is?" She asked, Sae perking up, a newfound determination in her eyes.

"Where do children go when their parents are asleep? The kitchen. Why? To raid the cookie jar!" She grinned, as if that answer was the most obvious thing in the world, but it just made Ayuki laugh.

"Are you kidding me? It can _ not _ be that. That answer is like something out of a cartoon." Sae frowned at her.

"There's  _ something _ in the kitchen and whether you wanna come with me or not I don't care. You can make fun of me all you like, I'm telling you I think I'm right." She pouted and stomped away to the kitchen doors, Ayuki following behind her, the giggles never ending.

"Noo, Sae I'm sorry, come back-"

She was cut off when Sae let out a blood curdling scream, suddenly gripping onto Ayuki's chest to hide her face in it. Ayuki looked down at her confused before looking up, nausea immediately setting in.

"Wh… What the-..." She couldn't bring herself to speak.

In front of them hoisted up on the counter was the mangled body of Shimpei Nanao, a horrified expression still on his face. His body was leaking red from every open wound and dripped into a puddle on the floor. All of his limbs dangling off of the counter, broken in different directions. His face was blue, eyes bulging from their sockets, dried saliva and blood running down his cheeks and chin.

Ayuki felt like she was going to puke and looked away.

"What in the world happened here?!"

Ayuki looked around to see Yuhei, his face twisted in surprise and disgust. As soon as he shouted out, a noise came from above.

_ Ding dong… ding dong… _

"Ahem~! A body has been discovered~! It seems like this bad kid was finally put in timeout! Everyone gather in the kitchen, I have something to give you." The intercom turned off.

As everyone piled into the kitchen, more and more surprised and disgusted outbursts were made. Misato was sobbing and gagging during her prayer for Shimpei to rest easily, though Ayuki felt the prayer was pointless when seeing how his body was left.

"This is so sick… Who would do this…?" Chiori gagged.

"One of you, obviously~!" Yureikaeru hopped up on Shimpei's chest, the crunch of broken ribs causing Masanobu's guts to give way from holding the vomit back. "One of you gathered here is the one who killed this poor, poor babysitter. He's dead now though so whatever." That sparked a rage within Ayuki that she didn't know she had. "Now, I should've passed this out the first day but I forgot~! Here you go, catch!" The frog threw some kind of electronic at everyone. As if on instinct, they all caught the one thrown at themselves. Whether out of worry of it breaking or being hit, who knows. "Now if you'd all turn it on~!"

Ayuki turned hers over a few times before turning it on. The screen flashed pastel greens and pinks before 'hello, Ayuki Hanabuchi" appeared, disappearing as quickly as it came. The screen gave way for a home screen with four apps.

"I call these Hoppers! On them is basic information about every single one of you. Height, weight, likes, dislikes, etcetera etcetera! Whenever one dies, whether by murder or my punishment, it will say so in their status. That's under the Housemates app! There's a map of the manor; maps for the different buildings will be unlocked after every trial. Then there's a messaging app on there that I call HM+! You can edit your accounts as much as you'd like, as placeholders I made the usernames your first and last names. Lastly there's an app on there called Trialvidence. That's where you'll be able to keep track of all of the evidence from current and previous killings. Since this is the first one to happen, you've all received a bump up from amateur to rookie detective! I've given all of the basic information about Shimpei's death in the Timeout file of Trialvidence. That is all for now~! Good luck my little detectives~!!" And with that, she was gone, leaving everyone to drown in their confusion and disgust.

"This is fucked up…" Akito muttered under her breath. Ayuki couldn't agree more.

"Well, let's get to it." Yuhei was already looking over Shimpei's body, lifting his broken limbs to see if there was anything hidden in his sleeves or in the legs of his pants. Ayuki couldn't believe her eyes.

"So that's it? You're just digging right in? Like a dog given his first meal in ages." Chiori yelled out at Yuhei, who scowled but otherwise ignored her. "You're fucking disgusting for a priest."

Ayuki shuddered before slowly letting go of Sae, who whimpered at the loss of comfort. "We might as well… It's the only way we can solve this and give him some closure…" She walked past Chiori who gave her a surprised look in return. Her, Daigaku, and Yuhei were gathered around Shimpei's body, inspecting different parts.

The medium looked at her Hopper, checking Trialvidence. Sure enough, there was a button labeled "Timeout!" which she promptly clicked. A small animation of a child falling off of a chair trying to reach the cookie jar played, which made Ayuki absolutely sick to her stomach. She wondered if every file after this will have the same ill-humored animations.

In the file was a small amount of basic information that Ayuki skimmed over. "It says here that the time of death was 12:40 AM. Cause of death is breaks in the ribs which punctured his lungs and heart causing him to internally bleed out... How sick does someone need to be…?" She grimaced, looking back up at Shimpei's body. She noticed Yuhei opened his shirt and was inspecting his chest, a large bruised and caved-in area in the middle of it. Ayuki gagged as Yuhei pushed the bruised area, cracking and squishing coming from inside of Shimpei's chest.

"I think it's safe to say that the weapon of choice was something strong enough to break all of his ribs and cause this much damage. Before or after his limbs got broken, I'm not sure." Yuhei grimaced when he took his hand off of Shimpei, as if he touched something disgusting.

The Hoppers dinged, Ayuki being one of the few checking it. Everyone else was either too busy trying to keep in their breakfast or had left the kitchen for whatever reason. Ayuki found it suspicious that anyone would leave the crime scene without saying something but she wasn't sure if anyone said anything either. She's been kind of preoccupied with the body.

"Why was he out at 12 AM? How did he even get in here? Or was he killed outside of the kitchen and placed here when it opened?" Daigaku looked between the only other two that were examining Shimpei's body. Yuhei looked as if he was deep in thought, trying to think of how this happened.

"Wait, look at his chest… Doesn't it look weird?" Ayuki squinted, tracing the rim of his caved-in chest. Yuhei scoffed, as if what she asked was incredibly stupid.

"Of course it looks weird. His ribs were shattered in pieces."

"No no no, look closer. Right here." Ayuki tapped Shimpei's chest, pointing to a strange marking. "It looks like dirt was smudged into his chest."

Yuhei looked closer and, sure enough, there was dirt in a blocky pattern. "It's almost like he was stomped on…" Ayuki gasped, snapping her fingers at Yuhei.

"That's it! If all of his limbs were broken before his chest caved in, that means he wouldn't have been able to get away from it. He could've had his chest crushed in under someone's body weight!" Daigaku ran around the counter and grabbed Ayuki's hands, his eyes sparkling.

"Ayuki you're a genius! All we need to do is see who would be the most likely to be able to crush a ribcage under their weight and we have our list of suspects!" He laughed, genuinely glad Ayuki had figured something out.

"The weight that crushed his chest was more than 200 pounds~!" Yureikaeru appeared seemingly just to say that because as soon as she was done, she disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"More than 180 huh?" Ayuki closed out of Trialvidence and opened Housemates, not bothering to take in the app layout as she immediately sorted everyone by their weight. The only ones 180 lbs and over are Jun, Akito, and Tadao.

'Akito…' Ayuki didn't believe Akito would kill someone for any reason. She was too bubbly. Sure, she was buff enough to but Ayuki just couldn't believe it could be her.

"Jun is 215 pounds, Akito is 220, and Tadao is 200. Everyone else is under." Ayuki read off.

"Well then it's obviously Akito. She's the heaviest one." Yuhei said, which bothered Ayuki immediately.

"She hasn't shown any aggression though. Her and Sae have been the nicest darlings to me, it doesn't feel like she'd be the one to kill someone over a secret." Ayuki looked down at her Hopper, already knowing who she suspects of killing Shimpei. It's so obvious to her, it kicked her in the chest and shattered her ribcage. Okay, ill timing, but she still had a hunch.

_ Ding dong… ding dong… _

Yureikaeru's face showed up on the intercom. She sighed, eyes blinking slowly, seemingly bored.

"Yawn~. You're all taking too long, so I'm starting the trial now. You've pretty much got all of the evidence for this case anyways, it wasn't very extravagant in terms of what killed him. Please make your way to the main hall and stand in the circle under the chandelier.

Ayuki looked up from her Hopper as the intercom turned off. Under the chandelier?

"Let's get going." Yuhei said curtly as he exited the kitchen.

"Uh, you first Daigaku." Ayuki looked nervous, as the same with Daigaku but he nodded and left, leaving Ayuki alone with the body of Shimpei. She looked at his face, his horrified expression, those eyes that she felt were staring into her soul. She raised her hand and closed his eyelids slowly, using whatever strength she had to close his jaw, thankful that it wasn't a task too hard to accomplish. "Rest well," and with that she left the kitchen, the doors closing Shimpei's body off from the rest of the manor.

Ayuki met the others in the main hall, standing herself between Sae and Akito. She felt safer by them. She felt someone bump into her and turned her head, seeing Yuhei crammed between her and a few others. Somehow, she felt even safer now, surrounded by these three.

"Are we all here? One, two…" Yureikaeru appeared and started to count, "... fifteen, yup we're all here!" Fifteen, since Shimpei's…

Yureikaeru hopped into the circle and pressed one of the small black buttons on her chest. The floor began to move from underneath them, the sound of mechanical whirring filled the main hall. Suddenly, the area within the circle began to move downwards and brought everyone on top of it down with them.

Ayuki had a very bad feeling about this.


End file.
